The walk toward the nearest administration building was quick and tense, despite neither of them speking.
Once we entered the building, yung Lord chose the biggest, centermost clerc counter and said in an authoritative tone.
“I am Roger de Hanghast, son of Viscount Guillaume de Hanghast, and I demand to speak to the manager of this branch office.”
“The manager is currently in the middle of the conference and cannot grant a meeting right now. What is the purpose of your visit, my lord?” Answered the female cleric with a perfectly neutral voice and tone, like it was an everyday occurrence to her.
Which it probably was.
“I would like to endorse an official starship duel with the North Star military academy as its arbiter.”
Now that was unusual, if the flash of surprise on the cleric’s face was anything to go by.
“Please wait a moment, I have to consult the manager.” Answered the cleric, maintaining a neutral voice and walking away toward the back room.
A awkward silence ensured between them for a good 3 minutes before the lordling broke it with a single sentence, before it ensured once again.
“I will send my condolences to your family and compensate them for your death.” Said Roger without turning back to face him.
Clearly, he was convinced of his victory. So much so that he even began to think of the fallout of Gerald`s eventual death by his hands.
He does not plan to let me live.
Was the only thing Gerald noted from this sentence from Roger beside his boundless confidence.
Despite his outward stoicism, however, Gerald did not share his confidence. He felt that he was thrown into an unfamiliar island with strange people and a hostile environment, which was not far from the truth. The pressure from the fleet system did not help. Despite this, Gerald steeled his resolve and began to formulate the plan of action.
The reincarnation ignited something deep within him. In his previous life, he was a deep sci-fi enjoyer. He was fascinated by fantastical tales of mechas and ships in space, futuristic cities, and FTL travel, but this was all but an illusion. An escape from mundane reality that he had only occasional conversations about with friends. An unattainable dream. A silly delusion in his free time. But now, now it was different. Now it is real. Everything he dreamed about is now within his grasp, just a few hurdles away. Because this is what it is, just a hurdle to cross in order to become a real interstellar fleet commander of his own making. Everyone and everything that stands in his way is to be crushed. He will not settle for mediocrity this time.
When the female cleric informed them that the manager suddenly found time to meet them, he held his head high and his back straight as he was led upstairs.
The office they were led to was a cross between minimalism Gerald assimilated with corporations from his previous life and subtle but noticeable displays of wealth, despite it being just a middle branch of an academic administration.
I guess a middle manager in one of the Interstellar Imperium's top educational institutions pays fairly well.
“Welcome young lords. I was informed that you had an official request.”
The manager was, on the other hand, a perfect replica of an office manager from Earth. With a black suit and perfect posture, the only thing that was different were golden trimmers at the edges of the suit and herb of the academy on his chest.
“Yes manager. I am Roger de Hanghast, son of Viscount Guillaume de Hanghast, and we came to petition for North Star Military Academy to endorse a Starship duel between us.”
Gerald did not miss that he omitted his name and title.
“I am Baron Gerald de Gretz, and I second his request.”
The decorum of the Imperium should command each noble to address each other with the proper decorum in a public setting, but if the lordling does not have it in him to respect that, Gerald did not see the point to respect it either. Also, he at least had his title already, which was a win in his mind.
“I see.” If the manager noticed the not so subtle hostility in the air, he did not show it. “It is indeed in my authority as a manager to endorse the duel in the name of The North Star Military Academy, however, it is also my duty as a citizen of the Imperium to dissuade the future and current lords from this course of action.” He maintained neutral posture with a strong, non-judgmental voice. ”As a noble of the Imperium, you have a duty to uphold, and risking your lives is rarely worth it. Do you really want to proceed with the official petition despite knowing the risk of death?”
Both Gerald and Roger answered positively.
At this, the manager sighted slightly. A brief resignation flashed on his expression.
“Very well.”
At this point, the manager opened his terminal, and after a few seconds of selecting options, Gerald`s terminal opened on his own, asking him to fill out the relevant clauses within the document. The icons in the right upper portion indicated that the live writing of his and Roger would be displayed to the manager, Harold Soros, as well.
Gerald filled out the superficial information and in the section for time set it for exactly the beginning of the 11`th month of the galactic standard, one month from now on. When the time came for filling out the Starship type used and the crew, Gerald paused.
“Do I have to fill out the type of spacecraft and cerw?” He asked the manager, ignoring the snicker from the side.
The narrative has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the infringement.
"No, my lord, The specific type of ship and the names of the crew are optional to fill out, however, the tier of the spacecraft must mach in order for the duel to be acknowledged.”
At that, Gerald turned towards Roger and stated in flat voce.
“Tier 2 any type.”
There was a flash of contempt in Roger`s expression.
“Fine by me.”
When the whole document was completed, the manager read aloud our wager and its conditions after accepting it in the name of the academy. With the formalities completed, Roger left without saying another word.
After a bit of contemplation and planning at the bench before the administration building, Gerald was just about to proceed with his plan when he got an incoming call notification from Ahren and accepted it.
“Hey men, where are you? Did you really go on with this duel?” Asked Ahren with concern in his voice.
“Sure did, don’t worry. Like I said, I have a plan.”
“Hope so, anything I can help you with?”
“Yeah, listen, do you know where I can buy some spaceship parts and equipment around here?”
“Spaceship parts and equipment?” Repeated incredulous Ahren.”These things are usually traded in orbital stations, or other space docks, where spacecraft are built. Here on the ground, you can only buy auxiliary or luxury equipment.”
“I see, then can you present me with some kind of online repository for parts in our orbit?”
"Sure, I can…here” Ahren complied with visible apprehension. “What? Are you planning to build the spacecraft yourself?” Asked Ahren in jest after a moment.
Gerald was already compiling a list of required parts.
“Sure I do.” He answered plainly.
Ahren burst into laughter but stopped after a few seconds.
“Wait, you are serious, aren`t you?”
“Yes.”
“What? How? Are you out of your mind?” At this point, Ahren was thoroughly confused.
“I dabbed into the spacecraft engineering in my free time and am fairly certain to be able to cobble something together during the month.” Gerald answered confidently.
“…cobble something together….” The voice of Ahren gradually faded before he sighted, ”Plese man, I will think of some way to pressure the academy to rescind the endorsement, just… think things over." And ended the call.
Rude
Thought Gerald of his friend ending the call abruptly with him. But at the same time, he did not blame him for it. If Gerald were in Ahrens’s shoes, he wouldn`t believe it either. After all, if someone were to have a car hobby and, without prior practical knowledge, suddenly declared he would assemble one in a week…
Maybe I would have laughed in their face.
Undeterred Gerald finished compiling a list, smirking all the way until he got to the final page summarizing his payment. The price for various parts ware higher than he thought, even though he did not plan to build a Tier 3 starship, just basing his design on one meant that their collective price was much too steep. Even after he trimmed down the non-essentials, it was just below 15000 star coins—nearly half of the 10,000 he had on hand, not including the required construction berth fee. He could take out a loan, but just remembering the scam that was student loans from his previous life made him apprehensive, at least until he dried out all other options.
After some time, he realized that if he had too little information, then he had literally a free information repository in his mind all the time and chastised himself for not thinking of it sooner.
First he tried searching for a cheap way to build a spacecraft from the memories of the previous Gerald, onely to return blank. After all, his alter ego was not a starship engineer. He hoped to become a commander and chose a major based on that desire.
Changing the approach, Greald searched for a way he was planning to acquire a spacecraft in this semester to fulfill the academy requirements with his limited resources, and that returned some intriguing results. Namely used spacraft market only for members of North Star Military Academy.
With a flash of inspiration, Gerald decided to physically visit the land-based marketplace.
----------------------------------------
When Gerald arrived at a location specified on the map, he witnessed the sprawling complex of massive hangars and a relatively small building near the entrance. Once he stepped inside, he was greeted by a handful of stationary touch screens bolted to the ground and two clerk booths.
Unlike when he visited the branch office of an administration building of the academy earlier that day, there was only one person here, and that was the sprawled-out male watching some show on a holographic display inside one of the booths.
Gerald had to ring an old-school metal bell in order for the lazine clerk to notice his presence.
He paused the show and, after some adjustments to his uniform, asked.
“How can I help you?” a man asked nonchalantly.
The lack of decorum did not bother Gerald, after all, despite a less than stellar first impression, it was never worth it to antagonize the birocrats. He learned it the hard way.
“I am looking for a purchase of used military spacecraft, Tier 2 variety. Have I arrived at the right place?” Gerald asked politely.
Cleric pointed to the side of the screen between them.
“Status identification first.” Man stated, dispassionately.
On the second look, Gerald noticed a worn-out sticker reading `for ID, place terminal here!` and after he placed his terminal hand on a glass, there was a beep and a brief flash of green.
“I have unlocked that screen for you to browse the goods. Once you fill out your order and want to pay, approach me again. If you have any questions, consult build-in AI first before coming to me.” Saying that he turned around and unpoused the show.
Very proffecional.
Undeterred Greald activated the indicated terminal by once again placing his hand on the side and was greeted by a comprehensive list with a search engine and began to look for a sort by modules option, and after finding it, he began his extensive research.
Time flew by as Gerald made many searches, comparisons and entered various queries to the AI. So much so, that it was only after 2 and a half hours later that he approached the booth again.
"Hello, I have a question.”
The clerk, after a brief expression of surprise, turned my way and bent a little to see the still active console he unlocked some time ago.
He thought I had already left.
“I would like to buy those three ships and ask if there is a way to rent out some assembly/disassembly berth?” Gerald asked with a smile.
A cleric looked at my list from his display.
“It is a little unusual for a student to buy three ships at once in here, but it is within regulations, so there is no problem here. I must point out, however, that those three, although their overall quality is fairly good for their age, each of them have unoperational cricical systems. Added to the fact that you choose three different models instead of multiples of the same like other starship engineering majors, I would highly advise you against trying to disassemble them by yourself, there are better ways to learn. If you think yourself smart after some theoretical knowledge…” A man looked like he wanted to say more but likely remembered he was speaking to the noble.
“Thank you for your advice. Form your speech, I guess that there is indded a way to rent out such a berth, yes?” Aked Gerald still with a smile but with a less friendly tone than before.
A creric sighted.
“Yes, it is 30 star coins a month. You can disassemble, reassemble and even theoretically construct a spaceship inside one of the hangar berths. The Academy funds those for decades, even though hardly anyone uses them.” He stated with resignation.
“Great, I would like to rent out one for a month in addition to the previous list. Are there living quarters inside, and can I have deliveries come inside the complex?” asked Gerald
“Yes, they are. Deliveries are also permitted.”
“Then I would like to pay.” Stated Gerald
After a few clicks from the clerk, Gerald`s terminal activated, and a payment prompt appeared.
Would you like to transfer 9030 star coins to the North Star Military Academy used spacecraft market division U-04?
Yes / No
Gerald accepted the transaction and poused, remembering a crucial detail.
“Can my ships be transported to the berth?”